DU’s Study Tip 4: ENGAGE IN ACTIVE LEARNING

How are your study preparations going? Daily-Update genuinely wants you to do well, so feel free to send us any queries or comments you may have about studying effectively. Here now is our fourth tip:

TIP FOUR: NEVER JUST READ OR JUST LISTEN.
Reading textbooks, notes or even novels is passive. You are taking in information with little effort and therefore you are hardly processing the data. It is akin to watching TV – it may be relaxing and enjoyable, but it may also be a trance-like activity. The same goes with listening. A person who writes while listening has been found in tests to retain much more than the person who just listens. This is partly because the former person is using the brain more actively and partly because the brain is receiving both heard and visual stimuli. An extra advantage is that you end up with a set of notes for later revision. In general, use as many of your senses as you can in your learning. Write, listen, draw pictures, record summaries onto a Dictaphone or recorder… if you possibly can engage your senses of smell, touch and taste too!
By the way, on the subject of recorded summaries, there is currently no real evidence that subliminal or sleep learning works so don’t waste your time on this. Get a good night’s sleep instead and listen to your recordings when awake (perhaps when on the bus or train).
In summary, never just read or just listen, unless your objective is just to “veg out.” Instead take notes at the same time or ask yourself questions about the material so that you can achieve active learning.

Until next time when we stress the importance of pre-reading.

Cameron Russell

DU Publishers for reasonably priced English e-books (www.dupublishers.com)
DU English Club for learners and teachers of English (www.ducourses.com)
Online English College for guaranteed results in English (www.onlineenglishcollege.com)

Cameron Russell is a director of DUPublishers.com, a leading publisher of high-quality English
e-books. His English membership sites are DU English Club - for English teachers and learners and Online English College - for fast English results. Cameron is also the author of numerous English books and he teaches students English before they enter university. Copyright Daily-Update Pty Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved